Guided jaw nippers



Aug. 21, 1951 J. D. SAMMONS 2,564,817

GUIDED JAW NIPPERS Original Filed Aug. 21., 1945 r I 36 fg l lll lmiii/ways Patented Aug. 21, 1951 John; D. Sammons, rla, Teie, assignor ofonehalf to Robert E.- Cunningham, El Paso County,-

Tex.

Continuation of application Serial N o. 611,803, August 21, 1945. Thisapplication February 16, 1951, Serial No. 211,331

1 Grain.

This invention constitutes a continuation of my pending applicationSerial No. 611,803, filed August 21, 1945, now abandoned, for hand tooland appertains to improvements in tools employed for repairing andmaintaining wire fences and other wire structures. v The primary objectof the instant invention is to provide a hand tool, which is equippedwith means for carrying out the various operations,

attendant with the erection of wire fences. and the construction ofother wire structures, the tool being provided with an improved clawhammer, a wire cutter and wire puller facilities of extreme- 1y simpleand eflicient construction and arrange.- ment.

These and ancillary objects and structural features of merit areattained by this invention, the" preferred embodiment of which is setforth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a tool,- constructed inaccordance with th principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tool, with themovable parts in closedposition;

Figure '3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on line 3-3of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of the head portion of the tool;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the tool, with the movableparts disposed; in an open position;

, Figure '6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure1;

Figure 7 is a. transverse sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Figure I,and,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view, illustrating One:

of the claw members of the head, provided with a bulged portion forremoving staples.

Referring now more particularly to" the accompanying drawing, the toolincludes a handle portion In, which may be formed invarious desirablelengths. As. illustrated; the handle portion includes a pair ofcomplementary longitudinal half sections II, II, which are hingedlyconnected together, at one end, as at I2. The pivotal attachment of thehandle sections II and H is preferably detachable and is effected bymeans of a shouldered screw or pivot. stud [3, the head portion. ofwhich is recessed for the application of a conventional Allen screwwrench. The head of the pivot stud is countersunk in the adjacentportion of one of the handle sections and the screw threaded shank ofthe stud terminates at a' point to be at least flush with the outer faceof the opposite handle section. In this manner, interfering protrusionson the oppositefaces of the handle portion Hl are eliminated, at theregion of the pivot.- I V j The handle section II is formed, at thepivoted end thereof, with a flat upper portion of reduced thickness,that is, of substantially longitudinally half section, the portion I4forming a, circular bearing disc and being disposed at right angles tothe inner and outer surfaces of the handle and elf-set laterally fromthe inner surfac thereof.- A similar flat bearing member or disc portion{5 is formed on the adjoinin end of the complementary handle section ll:and the portion 44 rotatively overlaps the offset portionv l5 of thehandle section I, with the offset bearing member or portion l5 beingdirected laterally from the inner surface of the handle section I I. Thportions l4 and 15 receive the pivot stud l3, which is transverselydisposed therethrough and which retains the bearing portions in verticalalignment, with, their adjoining surfaces being in rotative engagement.The bearing member or disc portion l5 projects from the lower part ofthe handle section ll, while the bearing member [4 projects from theupper part of the handle section II, the handles having arcuate edges l6and H engageable with the surfaces of the bearing members or discportions to provide a limited hinge movement between the handle sectionsH and II.

The handle section II is provided with a jaw extension l9, thejawxtension being formed integral with the bearing member [4 andprojecting upwardly from the outer portion of the periphery oftheportion M. The. jaw extension terminates at its upper end ina prongI8, adapted to form one part of a claw structure. The lower or oppositeend of the jaw extension dependsbelow the bearing member I 4 and isdisposed at right angles thereto, the end being flat and defining a flatshoulder. The shoulder is dis posed transversely to the pivot stud andparallels the contacting surfaces of the portions l4: and l 5;

The bearing member or disc portion [5 of the handle section fl isprovided with an integral jaw portion or extension 24, which is disposedat right angles thereto. 'I-hejawextension 24is formed integral, at itslower end, with a hammerhead or peen 20, which is in the form. of anenlargement and which projects lateral-1y from the inner face orsurfaceof the jaw extension. The hammerhead tapers downwardly to mergein areduced neck portion 21- and is flared outwardly to terminate in ashouldered flange 22. As shown,

dered portion 26. The hammerhead, defined by the cooperating jawextensions, the lower end of the jaw I9 slidably engaging the shoulder20, when the jaws are in closed positions, as seen in Figure 4, servesas a conventional nail driving member. In the closed position, thehandle sections are in abutting relation and the flat end of the jaw 19engages on the shoulder 26, formed on the inner or upper end of .thelateral projecting portion of the enlargement. As shown, the jawextension 24 is provided at the end, opposed to the hammerhead 20, withan integral upstanding prong 25, which is cooperatively arrangedwith-the prong l8 to form a conventional claw structure.

-The prong 25 and the prong l8 are adapted to be arranged in confrontingpositions, with the complementary jaw extensions adapted to mate, theshouldered portion 26 underlying and contacting withthe end of the jawextension is. The jaw- 18 rests on the shouldered portion 26 and theouter surface thereof is flush with the outer surface of the hammerhead'or peen, so that when the handles are closed, the head portionresembles a conventional claw hammerhead. When the handles are closed,the hammerhead may be utilized for nail driving purposes, theinextensions 18 and 25, the flattened and reduced end portions 14 and I5of the handle sections H and II and the lug member l9 and jaw extension24 are recessed to provide an opening 3| between the parts, the opening3| paralleling the cutting edges 29 and 30. It will be noted that thecutting edges are disposed parallel with the pivot element andarearranged transversely to the engaging surface of the hammerhead. so

that when the device is used as a hammer, the

force exerted on an object by the hammerhead does not impose any strainon the cutting edges nor does it effect any rubbing or digging contactof the cutting edges. Furthermore, it will be noted that the cuttingedges, pivot element and jaw extensions have parallel axes and aredisposed in the same plane, when the cuttin edges are in contact, thecutting edges contactner-portions of the handles being in engagementwith the force of the handle II being transmitted through the jaw iii tothe hammerhead, which is formed integrally with the handle H. In theclosed position of the handles II and II, theprongs i8 and 25 are spacedapart, as in an ordinary claw hammer structure and the parts are,accordingly, utilized in a conventional manner.

'The opposed parts of the forward meeting edge portions of the jawextensions are sharpened, as at 29 and 30, so that cooperative cuttingedges are provided on the inner confronting longitudinal edges of thejaw-extensions. The cutting edges are formed integrally with the jawextensions and, accordingly, they are hardened, tempered and sharpened.

' 'In utilizing the tool for cutting wires, the wires are insertedbetween the jaw extensions, with the handle sections in an open positionand the jaw extensions swung apart. The handles are then broughttogether, with their inner faces moved into abutting relation, and thehandle extensions are moved together, so that the cutting edges 29 and30 are moved, under force, through the wires, interposed between the jawextensions. It will be especially noted that the lower flat end of thejaw extension I9 is slidably disposed on the shoulder 26, so that theenlargement forms a guide for the jaw which moves relative to the jawex-' tension 24. If desired, the jaw extension 24 may be held rigid andin a vertical position, the jaw extension having the free end of theenlargement or hammerhead resting on a horizontal supporting surface. Insuch position, thewire is inserted between the jaw extensions and thejaw extension [8 is moved relative to the jaw extension 25, which formsa guide therefor.

For the accommodation of the wires and the cutting thereof, the meetingportions of the base ing when the handle sections are swung about thepivot element to bring the inner faces thereof into abutting relation.

The forward meeting edge portions of the lug member is and the jawextension 24 of the handle section llare recessed to provide a pair ofvertically aligned openings 32 and 33 and between these openings, theparts l9 and 24 are provided with tapered bulges 34, whose meeting edgesare sharpened, as at 35, to provide staplepuller projections.

The handle sections H and II may be of any suitable construction andcross-sectional form in the body'thereof. As shown in Figure 2, and'moreclearly in the cross-sectional view in Figure 7, each "of the handlesections H and II has a flattened portion 36 substantially elongatedthroughout the grasping portion of the tool, thepart 36 being formedintegrally with the forward portion ofeach handle section and the sameis covered by a correspondingly elongated segmental member of wood or asuitable plastic material. As shown more clearly in Figure 7, thecovering members 31 are formed with rounded outer faces for conveniencein grasping and handling the tool, and, preferably, the upper and loweredge portions of the flattened parts 36 of the handle sections I I andII are rounded, as at 38, to avoid the production of any meeting sharpedges between which the hand of the user might be pinched in thesqueezing of the tool handle sec-, tions H and II together in the use ofthe tool.

1 The covering members 31 may be attached to the'parts 36 of the handlesections by any suitable means. As shown, the members 31 are riveted tothe parts 36, as at 39, and the outer and inner end portions of therespective rivets are at least countersunk flush within the parts 36 and31 so as to avoid the production of any protuberances on the faces ofthe parts. It is further preferable to provide on the inner face of theflattened portion 31 of one of the handle sections a dowel pin 40 whichenters a correspondingly positioned recess 4| in the other handlesection in the closed position of the sections as'shown in Figure 2.This is to provide an effective loci; to prevent independent torsionalmovement ofthe respective handle sections H and H independently of eachother when in their closed position. x

- The combination tool of the present invention is of simple and compactyet strong and durable construction and the same is convenientlymanipulated and handled by the user in various operations such asnailing, stapling, withdrawing nails and staples, the cutting of wiresand the twisting and stretching of wires in fence building andmaintenance, as well as in numerous other uses.

The illustrated structure is but one practical exemplification of theinvention and the same admits of considerable modification within thespirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim. Theinvention, therefore, is not lmited to the specific construction andarrangement shown.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed is:

A wire tool comprising a pair of complementary handle sections havinginner flat abutting faces, each of said handle sections being formed atone of their adjoining ends with fiat integral bearing members, saidbearing members being arranged at right angles to said fiat abuttingfaces and projecting laterally therefrom and being arranged inoverlapping rotative engagement, a pivot element connecting the bearingmembers and disposed transversely therethrough, complementary first andsecond jaw sections integrally formed with the bearing members anddisposed at right angles thereto, the first jaw section extendinglongitudinally beyond the second jaw sec- 6 tion at one end, anenlargement formed on the said end of the first jaw section andextending laterally from the inner surface thereof to define a fiatlateral shoulder at its inner end, the second jaw section having a fiatend engaging said shoulder which forms a guide for the second jawsection, the jaw sections having inner longitudinal cutting edges, saidcutting edges being disposed parallel to the pivot element, and thecuttin edges, pivot element and jaw sections having parallel axes andbeing disposed in the same plane, when the edges are in contact, thecutting edges contacting each other when the handle sections are swungabout the pivot element to bring the inner faces thereof into abuttingrelation.

JOHN D. SAMMONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 740,739 Broadbooks Oct. 6, 1903930,385 Kennedy Aug. 10, 1909

